


Techniques

by atomicmayo



Series: Dewmie Fictober 2019 Fills [16]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Bad Flirting, Character Development, Donuts, Flirting, Food, Gen, Insight, M/M, Post-Episode s05e29-32 Change Your Mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-23 22:10:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21088610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomicmayo/pseuds/atomicmayo
Summary: From the Fictober 2019 Prompt: "Listen, no really listen." Lars' first day back at the Big Donut after returning from space.





	Techniques

"Oh, this is going to be a problem," Lars murmured to himself, still a little groggy.

He had just gotten readjusted to living somewhere with regular sunlight, let alone having to get up early. He wasn't quite even sure he _wanted_ to still work at the Big Donut, but he figured he had to test the old normal out before he could reject it and find a new one. So here he was, up at Stupid Hours in the morning, boiling a pot of donuts - just as if he never died and was revived by pink space magic.

He was also working with a new employee that was definitely _not_ Sadie. Someone older, cheesier - and much more chipper than was considered humanly possible at sunrise, by Lars’ experience.

"What’s the matter?" Bill asked him. Not ‘Mayor Dewey’ but 'I suppose you can call me Bill'... Dewey. Lars hadn’t quite gotten to the point of being annoyed by him yet, because despite his expectations, Bill was being _unnervingly competent_, even helpful. 

"Oh, uh, I need to figure out a new way to see if these are done. You want to try these in a minute? My sense of taste isn’t the same since Steven revived me," Lars explained. 

Bill seemed to intentionally maintain polite disinterest about anything regarding Lars’ death, revival and adventures in getting back to Earth; it was the only bit of weird tension between them so far. While Lars felt overwhelmed by the attention and concern he had gotten from pretty much everybody in town lately, he found himself more disturbed by someone who was almost aggressively impartial about what happened to him. There had to have been some sort of reason, but for now, Lars had a job to do. They both did.

"Ah, things don’t have a taste anymore," Bill's tone of voice was somewhere between slight surprise and almost as if he was expecting Lars to say it.

Lars shook his head, "Not exactly, it’s weird - I can still kind of taste things if I pay attention. I just don’t have as much of an appetite," he dejectedly poked at a donut to flip it over. It bobbed in the oil.

"If you can still taste things, what do you need a tester for?" Bill asked from the table next to him, dipping a batch of pink donuts in a slightly paler pink frosting.

"It’s like," Lars paused for a second, trying to find a way to explain, "eating something when you know you aren’t hungry; food doesn’t really taste like food. It’s just kind of… stuff that you put in your mouth and it turns to mush," Lars finished with a sigh and started prepping a drying rack.

"That... doesn’t sound pleasant. I usually listen to them, myself!" Bill remarked, dipping another donut. Lars shook his head and frowned at him.

"Listen to...?"

"The donuts!"

"What are you talking about? How would you listen to a donut?" He just stopped short of adding a ‘you weirdo’ to the end of the question.

"The texture changes when you fry them, right? Changes the sound as they're boiling in the oil. At first, I tried tasting one out of each batch, but I got tired of that pretty quickly," he smiled and paused to grab a shaker of purple sprinkles. He started adding them to the donuts he had just frosted, lightly tapping the bottom of the jar with the heel of his hand. 

"Then tried I timing it," he continued, "but it would be off depending on what kind of dough it was. Now, I’ve learned the best way is to get things right is to just… listen!"

"Listen," Lars repeated, skeptical. Bill nodded.

"Listen."

"All right," Lars said flatly, "let me try." He paused for exactly two seconds and shrugged - with an eye roll for good measure.

"I hear nothing. Timer or taste tester for me," he declared, adding, "you going to taste this batch of cakes before I start the filled ones or…" Bill shook his head impatiently and walked over to the pot Lars was standing at.

"No, _really_ listen," he insisted. 

They both leaned in just a little, with ears facing the oil. Lars squinted. Bill closed his eyes serenely and waited.

The test was soon interrupted by the electric door chime at the front of the shop.

"Oop! First customer of the day! You mind if I take care of him, boss?" Bill asked.

"Boss?"

"Well yeah, you have seniority," but he didn’t wait for Lars’ approval and started heading for the front anyway. 

"Listen!" Bill reminded him as he went through the doors.

Lars could hear snippets of a conversation through the doors as he focused on the donuts for a second. Lots of cheerful morning giggling and bubbly smalltalk in front accompanied Lars inspecting the donuts for a moment and concluding they were, in fact, done. He had figured it out mostly by color, but Bill was right - there was a difference in the sound if you listened closely enough.

Lars started taking the donuts out. His brain drifted to the conversation without really paying attention.

"Another random one this morning? Your tastes seem to run the gambit!"

Someone replied, "sure - and they do! But you know I'll eat anything you give me!"

There was more giggling. Lars snorted and cringed.

He couldn't remember of the name of who was talking to Bill, but he definitely recognized the voice - it was the only other mail carrier in town that wasn't Sadie's mom - the guy who ran the community theater and put on weird plays with just himself in them all the time. There was a final bout of giggling and a 'have a spectacular day!' before Lars' heard the door chime again.

Lars started the final batch as Bill came back in to finish frosting.

"I heard it," Lars announced, scoffing just a little.

**Author's Note:**

> I wonder about this a lot. Will Lars still work at the Big Donut? Was Lars just borrowing the kitchen to bake that ube cake in the movie? I don't think he was wearing a Big Donut t-shirt. SO many questions about things only I care about, ha!
> 
> Also, please god don't take Dewey's 'listening to donuts to see if they're done' advice seriously - I have no idea if that actually works. I've only made donuts once in my life. Don't listen to me for any reason. Ever. Please.


End file.
